Ray Stern, of the New Phoenix Times, published a scary story about an identity theft protection service, called â€œLifeLock.â€

The article suggested that LifeLock was founded on stories that are questionable, and run by a Robert Maynard Jr., who seems to have a few skeletons hiding in his closet.

Not all identity theft services are 100 percent effective, or worth the money they charge (my opinion). Many require their customers to surrender all the same personal information a criminal might use, which will be stored in a database.

Databases are targeted by common thieves, hackers, and even dishonest insiders for their personal and financial information. Even if the information is protected, all it takes is one person with access, or who is tricked into giving up their access to compromise it.

Another problem is that even the best computer security can be compromised and has to be updated, frequently. Even encryption can be compromised by someone, who has the time and necessary knowledge to do so.

Many of these services require that their customers provide them with a power of attorney. Couple a personâ€™s complete personal and financial information with a power of attorney â€“ and a lot of subsequent damage can occur.

A lot of people are trying to make money off the current identity theft phenomenon. When choosing any service the term, “caveat emptor,” or “buyer beware,” certainly applies.

Robert Maynard Jr. is a person making a lot of money from the identity theft phenomenon, but should people trust his service? Before coming up with LifeLock, he was banned from ever working in the credit industry. Here is what the New Phoenix Times article said about this:

His credit-repair company was shut down by authorities in the early 1990s for false advertising and deceptive practices. Forced closure means that a federal court order has banned Maynard from working in the credit-repair industry â€” forever.

The FTC judgement against Maynard and his business partners can be read, here.Â

Maynard is fond of telling a story, where he was the victim of identity theft. He claims this experience gave him the inspiration to start LifeLock. BUT the story of how someone else used his identity to take out a $16,000.00 marker at a casino isnâ€™t very credible.

The New Times interviewed Bernie Zadrowski of the Clark County District Attorneyâ€™s Office about this story.

Here is what they quoted Mr. Zadrowski as saying, which is a lot different from the story Robert Maynard Jr. uses to sell his identity theft service:

Not once did anybody ever suggest, in this particular case, that this was a case of stolen identity,” he says.

Maynard never filed a police report for identity theft, or it would be part of the D.A.’s office file, Zadrowski says.

“The only call we received while he was in jail was from his girlfriend. She wanted to know how to get him out of jail,” he says.

Zadrowski pulled the Arizona driver’s license submitted to the casino by the person who took out the loan and e-mailed a copy to New Times.

Although the resolution quality is poor, the man in the picture looks like Maynard.

Zadrowski says the man pictured is Maynard.

There is also the matter of an American Express Card, taken out in Robert Maynardâ€™s fatherâ€™s name (Robert Maynard Sr.), but sent to a previous business address of Robert Jr., himself.

Here is what the New Times article has to say about this matter:

Records show that someone with Maynard Sr.’s personal information ordered the card. But that someone didn’t have the bills sent to Maynard Sr.’s home. Instead, the bills went to a company called Netshield, at a Phoenix address used by one of Maynard Jr.’s former firms.

Though Maynard Sr. says he never asked for the card, he settled with the company. Coincidentally, Maynard Jr. has $170,000 in debt to American Express listed on his 2005 bankruptcy paperwork â€” and his father is named as a co-debtor.

If Maynard Jr. ordered the card using his dad’s data, without his dad’s knowledge, that would make him â€” you got it â€” an identity thief.

Apparently, Maynard has been able to sell his victim story numerous times to the mainstream media and pays bloggers to write about him.

During one attempt by the New Times to interview him, Maynard backed out at the last minute, claiming he had to meet with shock jock Howard Stern to discuss advertising. Maynard does take out advertising on Stern’s show, among others, but Ray Stern (New Times) noted that his office appeared to have been vacated, minutes earlier.

To date, there have been no complaints of wrongdoing at LifeLock, but if you read the New Times article, it would make someone like me think “long and hard” before handing over my money and information to them.

There are a lot of identity theft services out there. Most of them including LifeLock offer services that most of us could do by ourselves, if we had the knowledge.

Simply stated, the reason identity theft gets worse all the time — is because of too much information is being bought and sold — then maintained in too many (some not very secure) different places. The more places your information is stored, the more likely you are to become a victim.

12 users commented in " Is LifeLock an identity theft protection service people can trust? "

Interesting background on Maynard and LifeLock. Also interesting that you plug a competitor the way you chose to — for me, it left a sour taste for what was, otherwise, a very well-researched and well-reasoned opinion piece.

Pat Mitchell said,

in June 5th, 2007 at 6:38 pm

A story like this underscores why reputation is so important today when a couple of web developers can make a company look like a Fortune 100 mainstay. I am protected by RelyData (http://www.relydata.com) because they are the ONLY company recommended by the credit reporting industry. That’s an endorsement you can trust.

My service is The Identity Theft Shield from Kroll, Inc. and Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. It works. I know from experience. Nothing can prevent ID theft, but we all need to have a service in place that will notify us immediately if our information is being misused in ANY of the FIVE areas of ID theft. I, for one, do not want to have to do all the work necessary to clear my name, and I don’t have to. A licensed agent will do most of that for me.
I do represent these services and the details can be found at my web site.
Do carefully research any service which says it offers some kind of ID theft related services. Understand what services or offered and how you get them. Know how long the company offering the services has been around and its’ background. Is it likely the company has the resources to do what it says it will do?
We are all exposed. Be proactive. Do not just hope it doesn’t happen to you.
Make an informed decision about what is best for you and provides the best value.

Trust me, the services of Lifelock is a joke. I used to work there. The WHOLE company is very disorganized. There is alot of dishonest people working there. These people are not just the ones on the bottom, but it’s the higher up people that are dishonest

Steven T. Lunsford said,

in June 14th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

I to, use PrePaid Legal and The Identity Theft Shield from Kroll America, your credit is monitored continously and you are notified immediately. Kroll is the only company that does complete Restoration and there Fraud Investigators do all the work. I’ve had several friends to drop Life Lock and come over to Prepaid Legal. Check every company before you make a decision. http://www.prepaidlegal.com

There is a saying that “Time will either promote you or expose you”. I believe that time is “exposing” LifeLock for what it really is. After all, aside from all that has been said in previous posts, they ARE basically charging people to do what we can all do for ourselves for FREE! There are five different types of identity theft and whatever service you choose does need to cover all five…there are also differences between “resolution”, “reimbursement”, and “RESTORATION” services. The best is RESTORATION as it not only monitors but restores! I am also a member of the Identity Theft Shield and Life Events Legal Plan offered through PPLSI. And it DOES work! This is a well established, 35 year old, NYSE Company, recently endorsed on TRU TV by a former President of the American Bar Association, CEO and Founder of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other notables.
No secret here, I am also an Independent Associate.

Marco said,

in August 20th, 2008 at 7:32 pm

I have been going crazy comparing ID theft companies and all the different prices. Looks to me like most all are the same with the big companies charging more due to huge advertising cost. I googled “affordable identity theft protection” and found articles on CNBC and Forbes referencing a Identity theft protection company called ShieldSafe. They offer the same services but for only 49 dollars per year. For that price it was a “no brainer”. I also googled there name and found good reviews. Hope this helps.

Lucas said,

in September 22nd, 2008 at 11:23 pm

I tried http://www.optoutdetectives.com I met one of the owners at Best Buy and we started talking about identity theft. I found out he was a police officer and told him my story of being a victim. He actually helped me with steps I needed to take to recover from what I was going through. I would suggest anyone who needs help or has questions contact them. He was very helpful.

Lifelock is a pretty good identity theft protection program. I can’t belive that a user would want to compare that to pre paid legal. Lifelock is a better company and has better reputation.

betty said,

in November 14th, 2008 at 1:22 am

Lifelocks guarantee states they will “attempt to renew” the fraud alerts and to collect on their insurance, it HAS to be a “Defect in their service.” I lost my wallet, filed a police report, contacted LL when I became a victim and they told me I wasn’t covered because “loosing my wallet wasn’t a defect in their service” LIFELOCK SUCKS! THEY ARE A SCAM! READ THEIR GUARANTEE

Most Identity Theft “services” have numerous “limitations and exclusions” in the fine print. One example is let’s say a couple go out for the evening and the woman does not want to carry a purse, so she gives her drivers license and credit card to her husband/significant other to hold in his wallet. He either looses his wallet, or her card information is copied or scanned by a waiter at a restaurant and purchases are made as a result using her card. When they report it to their identity theft service, they may be told that it is not covered because “the card was not in the possession of the cardholder at the time of the loss”. This ACTUALLY happened to someone we know. Be careful and make sure you know and understand not only the coverage but all of the limitations and exclusions as well.

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (PPLSI) has an affordable Legal Service Plan and through Kroll, Inc., the world’s leading risk consulting company, the Identity Theft Shield. PPLSI was purchased by a private equity firm for $650 Million this past summer, they went through a re-branding and the new name is LegalShield (no space no hyphen).
A 20 min. overview is available at:http://www.shieldopportunity.com

Additional information on all plans available including individuals/families, small businesses, employee benefit plans, commercial drivers, and this 40 year old company’s lucrative income opportunity, can be found at:http://www.legalshield.com/hub/sbyrtus

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